Regretfully, any contribution I make to the Nuclear Connection Project is going to be purely anecdotal. My only qualification is scarcely more than an accident of birth -- having been hatched and reared in the original 'Atomic City': Oak Ridge, Tennessee.A sleepy little burgh tucked discreetly away in the rolling hills between the Cumberland and Great

Smoky Mountain ranges, Oak Ridge has always appeared deceptively normal on the surface.

Only when you peeked behind the fa=E7ade of plutonium and privilege -- and you had to know where to look -- did you glimpse the town's true nature.

Beyond the designer dachas of the nuclear bourgeoisie, out past the abandoned guard tower relics of an earlier era, lay the vast no-man's land we called the "Restricted Zone" ("we" meaning the Mensa set's prodigal offspring).

The Oak Ridge 'Reservation' encompasses many hundreds of square miles. However, the town itself -- the residential area -- occupies only a small percentage of that acreage. The rest has always been under the purview of the Federal Government; Atomic Energy Commission (AEC); Union Carbide; Martin Marietta, or whoever holds the reigns of power these days.

The Oak Ridge City cops lacked the authority to cross over into 'the zone', a fact taken full advantage of by me and my fellow delinquents. With too much time and money on our hands, we sought to relieve our boredom through frequent incursions into 'the zone', where we'd party hearty in the shadow of K-25, Y-12, or X-10, the three resident nuke facilities.

We sure-as-hell weren't worried about AEC Security showing up. Those guys were an absolute joke! Even at the height of the Cold War, we were able to carouse in 'the zone' with impunity. We could've been Russian spies or worse, and nobody would've known.

Ringed with "DANGER: RADIOACTIVE" signs, we went about our business with the fatalism borne by Oak Ridgers, and nurtured throughout our formative years. Field trips to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (X-10) only served to reinforce that posture, as we gazed down into the luminous depths of the Heavy Water tank used to cool spent reactor rods. Years later I would learn that that otherworldly glow had a name: Cerenkov Radiation. As with the radioactive dimes that we took home as souvenirs and promptly liberated from their plastic casings, it was probably best that we didn't know too much back then. What you don't know can't hurt you, or so the theory goes...

That was certainly the disposition with which I approached any mention of UFOs at the time, whether in a periodical, TV show, or even Baby Huey cartoons! The subject made me extremely uncomfortable. When Time or Life Magazine (I don't remember which) came out with a special UFO issue featuring a full-color glossy of an alleged UFO on the front cover, my adolescent self went utterly apoplectic. I repeatedly flipped over the issuedisplayed on our coffee table, so as not to have to look at the thing.

Of course, I was weaned -- like most of my generation -- on a steady diet of B-Movies bearing titles like 'It Came From Outer Space' and 'Invaders from Mars'. And while they also made me uncomfortable, it was the notion of TV's 'The Invaders', that really made me squirm; those glowing hands... the dissonant music... the opening sequence with the saucer landing. The notion of something so totally outside of my 'zone' of referenceran contrary to the ideals that I held dear: My yearning for a reasonable life, where cause begets effect, and stuff makes sense.

I have set the stage for the following account. It is through the contextual prism of life in the Atomic City, as I'vedescribed it, that these 'anecdotes' should be viewed... too- close encounter

When I invited my buddy, Robert, over to cruise for chicks and beer on his first weekend home from college, UFOs were the very last thing on my mind -- they weren't even on the radar screen. Bob was a fellow hedonist, and, while I was still adrift in a sea of uncertainty about my future after high school, he had seized the bull by the horns and enrolled in the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

He picked me up in the beat up, old Corvair that he'd inherited from his older brother. I was a little heftier than Bob and, although it took some doing, I squeezed my bulk into the passenger seat. Off we went -- Laurel and Hardy -- into the balmy, autumn evening, headed due west towards the Restricted Zone.

Truthfully, Bob and I weren't all that close. We'd never really hung out together, however, rumor had it that he had spent his entire first semester at UT racking up one sexual conquest after another, and I was anxious to hear him dish the dirt. My ears were purt near burnin' as he regaled me with a play-by-play account of his sexploits, a goodly percentage of which could have been hyperbole; Bob wouldn't be the first young man who'sinflated his statistics.

Still, Bob was a pretty rational guy, not given to too many flights of fancy. An honor student at Oak Ridge High, a school that churned out National Merit Finalists like Y-12 turned out nuclear triggers, he'd had the prettiest girlfriend in school. In other words, he really didn't need to exaggerate very much.

"Let's cruise the plants," I suggested, and Bob agreed. "I haven't had my fix of radiation in a while," he quipped, only half in jest. "We'll take the grand tour, then come back by the liquor store and buy some beer."

Onward, toward K-25 we trekked, penetrating deep into the Restricted Zone, Bob, all the while, keeping a runningcommentary going about his collegiate conquests. Basically, it was just your typical dude's night out -- two local boys cruisin' the nuke plants, hoping to stumble upon some action.

Eventually, we found ourselves on Bearcreek Road, the curvy, two-lane road that leads to Y-12. A shift change was due at the facility in half an hour, but for the time being, we had the thoroughfare to ourselves. It was a moonless night, so Robert had to drive with extra care. Although quite familiar with the route, the lack of streetlights or other vehicles only added to the challenges of negotiating its numerous twists and turns onsuch a caliginous night.

And then it happened. We were driving along, shootin' the breeze, listening to the A.M. radio, when off to our right, a bright, fully illuminated object appeared out of nowhere. It was descending at a 30-degree angle, following the topography of the hillside next to the road, when it abruptly leveled out, stopped, and hovered no more than twenty feet above the road. Exhibiting every sign of being intelligently controlled, simply by the ultra-precise manner in which it maneuvered, the UFO seemed to be daring us to approach it and drive underneath it.

The object was disk-shaped, radiant, metallic, the size of an eighteen-wheeler, and utterly silent. I know, because at the moment it first appeared in my field of vision, I reached over to turn off the radio. I don't know why, exactly, but that enabled me to hear whatever ambient noises were present, and other than the air passing by the open car window, there were none -- other than the pounding of our hearts, of course.

"Oh, God," I cried, "what do we do?"

"I don't know," Robert replied meekly.

The fear, the greatest we had ever known, was robbing us of the ability to speak. Reacting on instinct, Bob put the pedal-to- the-metal, but this was a Corsair remember, a rickety ol' relic that had long seen its day.

The object awaited us, only a hundred feet or so up ahead. Even at the modest speed we were travelling, there was no way we could stop -- not in so short a distance. The laws of physics were indeed committing us to pass right underneath the intruder.

I glanced away, but its otherworldly luminescence still managed to burn its image into my psyche. Robert wasn't so lucky. He was forced to keep his eyes trained on the road, and it was he who noticed the prismatic effect that the object exhibited. As though a rainbow were contained within, the UFO pulsed with an unnatural light.

Passing beyond the 'contact point', all I could think of in my panicked state was the possibility that the UFO was toying with us, and I suffered another panic attack. Suddenly, a diffuse light appeared on the distant horizon.

"Could that be?" I wondered.

"I hope so," Bob replied.

What we were seeing were the first familiar signs of humankind: the lights from the western boundary of the miles long Y-12 plant. It was only a couple of kilometers away. For the next few minutes we hoped and prayed with every bit of fervor a couple of irreverent teens could muster that we'd make it back to civilization without another run-in with the mystery craft."Just a little further... just a little further," I chanted -- a rather different mantra from my usual call-of-the-wild.

"Thank God...thank God," I intoned in unparalleled relief, once we reached the outer limits of the 'bomb factory'. It's ironic how something so alien as Y-12, with its enormous electromagnets (largest on the planet) and cutting edge technologies, could produce such a warm-fuzzy deep within me. A true baby boomer, I was home...

(postscripts)

Oddly enough, Robert and I never discussed our encounter again. I tried to get him to talk about it once, several months after the fact when I happened upon him in a pizza joint, but he refused. The very mention of it made the blood drain from his face and his knees go wobbly. Quasi-hostile, he strong-armed me to the side and warned me to never bring the subject up again. And so it remained -- that silence between us -- up until his death of AIDS complications in 1990. In a subsequent conversation with our mutual best friend, I learned that Bob hadgiven him a detailed description of the events of that night, and that all of the pertinent details matched up with myrecollections. It was a relief to know that I wasn't just passing swamp gas...

I once queried Stanton Friedman and John Carpenter, two men who've made it their life's work to study the UFO phenomenon, what their take on such a close encounter was, and both replied that it fit the alien abduction profile. "Any encounter that close, usually involves a missing time and/or an abduction component," was their consensus. Both found Robert's apoplexy when cornered in the pizza joint a particularly telling constituent. I was completely unaware of both phenomena -- alien abduction and missing time -- at the time the event occurred. Notuntil I assumed the State Directorship of both Kentucky/MUFON and Skywatch did I become aware of just how much Bob and I fit the profile of likely abductees.

Growing up in the Atomic City you learn a lot about its history, about its birth during World War II, its top-secret mission, its chief export -- weapons grade uranium -- and about the role it played in bringing the war to a rapid conclusion. You never hear about its lengthy and well-documented history of UFO surveillance or about the folks, like Bob and me, who put a human face on the startling statistics. That discovery would also come later.

In October of 1973, a 'flap' occurred during which UFOs were seen all over the East Coast, from Louisiana in the south, to Michigan in the north. Oak Ridge, too, had its share of sightings, as her skies were suddenly adorned with amber ovals, red BOLs (balls of light), and multi-colored whatnots. (See 'Red Balls of... Light', and 'To Have or Have-Not', for a personal account.)

I feel I'm keeping lofty company to have my tales of the strange-but-true included among the likes of researchers of such impressive caliber and credentials. Admittedly, my evidence for the status of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, as a UFO hotspot is anecdotal, but hey -- in the beginning was the word.....

More Information:Note HIV and AIDESDOE's Fluoride Health Cover-up:Oak Ridge covers up discoveries in health, religion, and environment. In Biblical terms this is the turning to stone linked illness process. Click here for an in depth technical explantion for the health effects that Oak Ridge managers covered up and refuse to recognize, so as not to reveil a huge health problem. Oak Ridge managers claim all is well and there are no problems in Oak Ridge, when there are massive problems with worker health and community health. The cover up links to the mechanisms for CFS, MCS, and even HIV. Oak Ridge covers up these health effects due to the massive liabilities their managers have caused. Problems that are so severe that they can be termed crimes against humanity for those that have intentionally acted to cover up and conceil this mechanism.

Plain Talk: Whats the big deal? Oak Ridge is a government facility that poisoned its communities and workers with fluorides. Specifically, huge amounts of extremely toxic hydrogen fluoride and calcium-fluoride, which cause immune cell damage, higher retention of toxic metals, thyroid damage, and cancer. A very similar process involving fluorides from nerve gas decomposition and heavy metals is the prime toxic driver in the Gulf War illnesses. The fluorides and toxic metals damage the mitochondria DNA of immune cells as they biocentrate into the lymph system and the nervous system. The "mysterious diseases" linked to fluoride/metal toxic effects are part of the military / industrial network cover up of the toxic problems. Severe synergisms exist for fluorides and metals that affect the G-proteins in cells and the Gq/11 binding sites. This process sets off cell damage, macrophage and immune activity, thyroid damage, thyroid hormone damage, etc. Fluorides produce an insoluble precipitate of calcium fluoride in the stationary macrophages of the lymph nodes that accumulate because fluorine's electronegativity exceeds oxygen and fluoride calcium seeks. Toxic metals produce insoluble metal oxides in the lymph nodes. This also sets off local Th1 / TNFa cytokine response from the secretory macrophage cells that cause apoptosis in the lymph cells and cytokine signaling confusion in lymph channels. The Th1 in the lymph system is offset by a general Th2 cytokine response for the total body, which enables cancers and virals. The general effect is seen with CFS, MCS, HIV, and environmental diseases of GWI and gas diffusion plant workers. These effects are aggrivated by poor American diets, fluoride in water, pesticides, preservatives, and etc. This effect was discovered by ORNL Sr. Staff person J. E. Phelps in 1986-87 as it applied to gas diffusion HF loses. The high levels of lymph node toxic stress (fluorides, isotopes, metals) cause superoxides, NO, etc. that damage the stationary and mobile macrophage mitochondria that impair the biological DNA digestion leading to immune related disease and cancer. The lymph node cells are the most highly toxically exposed cells in the body and the first to malfunction. The effect is the root cause of CFS, MCS, and the mystery ills, all mechanisms well known in the 1980's and suppressed by Oak Ridge National Lab. Today, the ORNL suppression of this information and mechanism amounts to a crime against humanity.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10 November 1950On 10 November 1950,-------------, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, employee at-------------, Oak Ridge, Tennessee was interviewed and he stated subtantially as follows: At approximately 1630 hours on 23 October 1950, while driving on the Benton Valley Road, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, he observed an object over the Scarboro School (which is in the control area of Oak Ridge) at a distance of one-quarter to three-eighth of a mile from his position of observations. The object appeared to be between 1000 and 2000 feet in altitude and was described as an "aluminum flash".

It was traveling in a South Southeast direction. The object was dropping fast as it crossed the road and disappeared over a ridge--------heard no noise in connection with this object.At approximately the time of this observation, a background (Geiger) counter located in the vicinity of this observation registered a reading for Alpha and Beta particles. -----------with the Health and Research Division of Oak Ridge Naitonal Laboratories, has stated that a reading received on this background counter is unexplained.

NPTES: No intentional or accidental releases which would give such a reading were made during month October.The Radar Station, Knoxville, Tennessee, has not reported a radar sighting on the date and time of this observation.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's been awhile, but I'm back with another casefile from Oak Ridge, Tennessee: my hometown. The "Atomic City" has a long and storied history where the UFO phenomenon is concerned, and this is just one account among many that are available for public consumption, thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, and books by guys such as J. Allen Hynek (CUFOS), and Edward J.Ruppelt (Project Blue Book).Jerry Washington SD KY/MUFON

The following account is taken from an FBI document (circa 1950) sent by J. Edgar Hoover to Mr. Francis R. Hammock, Acting Director of the Division of Security of the Atomic Energy Commission in Washington, D.C.:

"On 13 October, 1950, Atomic Energy Security Patrol Trooper, Edward D.Rymer, and a caretaker, John Moneymaker, from the University of Tennessee Research Farm, at Oak Ridge, saw an object at about 12,000 to 15,000 feet above Solway Gate of the "Control Zone." This object appeared to be an aircraft which was starting to make an outside loop, trailing smoke behind. Soon these two men realized that the formerly described smoke behind the aircraft was a tail. This object continued to descend in a controlled dive, and when it approached the ground it leveled off and flew slowly, parallel to the ground. This object came within two hundred and ten (210)feet of the two observers and was paralleling the ground at approximately six (6) feet. Trooper Rymer attempted to approach the object but as he approached the object became smaller and started moving in a southeasterly direction. This object is said to have approached a nine (9) foot cyclone chain link fence and made a controlled movement to clear the fence, then a Willow tree, then a telephone post and wire, after which the objectgained momentum and altitude and cleared a hill at approximately one (1) mile away. The object appeared to be pear shaped. When this object was over the hill it was still visible as the same object that was observed when only fifty (50) feet away. (The explanation given was that this object grew larger as it gained altitude and speed.)Approximately five minutes later the object appeared again having reappeared from approximately the same location from which it had disappeared. The object was seen again five minutes later for approximately ten seconds.During the above happenings, Mr. John Moneymaker had visual reference of this object during its first [appearance] for approximately seven minutes. Trooper Rymer was interrupted twice during which times he called his headquarters in an attempt to get other observers. Also, during the fantastic flight of this object, Trooper Rymer stopped Mr. E.W. Hightower, who was on the highway in his vehicle, to verify what was being seen. Mr.Hightower's statement substantiates the description as before.By the time the object appeared the second time, Joe Zarzecki, Captain of the Atomic Energy Commission Security Patrol, was present and also witnessed this phenomenon. Each of the observers describes the object substantially as follows: a. When the object was first sighted it appeared to be an aircraft trailing smoke, or better described as"smoke writing." b. When the object was approaching the ground in its descent, it took on the shape of a bullet with alarge tail.c. When the object was sighted on the ground (from app. 210 ft.) It appeared to be approximately the sizeof a 2x5 card {from a distance], with a twenty (20) foot ribbon tail. The object and the tail were alternately moving up and down, and the ribbon appeared to be waving in the breeze. The color was a metallic gray. d. When Trooper Rymer came within fifty (50) feet of the object he described it similar to the above except that the first two and one-half (2 Â½) feet of the tail appeared more solid, but the last seventeen and one-half (17 Â½) feet of the tail appeared almost transparent and was glowing, intermittently, in sections. The tail appeared to have four or five sections which would glow intermittently.

Trooper Rymer's record is among the best of the troopers at the Atomic Energy Commission Securty Patrol. Mr. John Moneymaker holds badge No.UT-1817, and is employed by the University of Tennessee Agricultural Research Farm as a caretaker for small animals. Mr. E.W. Hightower holds badge No. 6633 and is an employee of the Maxon Construction Company.

The Controller, Capt. W. Akin, of Detachment No. 2â€¦at the Knoxville Airport Radar Site, made a report that he had seen peculiar readings on the radar scopes at approximately 1520 hours. Apparently the radar picture was indefinite, intermittent, and inaccurate, because the objects sighted by radar would only make a short "painting" on the scope and would then disappear only to reappear at another location."

Attached to this Summary are eleven (11) enclosures which tend to clarify information contained in the former two (2) Summaries of Information on SUBJECT. These enclosures are composed of witness statements; background information concerning previous sightings of peculiar objects over Oak Ridge; and radarreports. The most reliable sources available were utilized in the compilation of this report. The employment records and the Federal Bureau of Investigation reports concerning the witnesses were inspected to ascertain their reliability, integrity, and loyalty to the United States Government.

The opinions of the officials of the Security Division, AEC, Oak Ridge; Security Branch, ??PA [partially unreadable] Division, Oak Ridge: AEC Security Patrol, Oak Ridge; FBI, Knoxville: Air Force Radar and Fighter squadrons, Knoxville; and the OSI, Knoxville, Tennessee, FAIL TO EVOLVE AN ADEQUATEEXPLANATION FOR SUBJECT [emphasis mine] however, the possibilities of practical jokers, mass hysteria, balloons of any description, flights of birds (with or without cobwebs or other objects attached), falling leaves, insect swarms, peculiar weather conditions, reflections, flying kites, objects thrown from the ground, windblown objects, insanity, and many other natural happenings HAVE BEEN REJECTED because of thesimultaneous witnessing of the objects with the reported radar sightings; because of the reliability of the witnesses;because of the detailed, similar description of the objects seen by different persons; and BECAUSE OF IMPOSSIBILITYâ€¦"(The previous document was declassified in 1983.)------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ALCOA9/9/55(Bluebook)12 noon. Witness: M.N. Dawkins, using binoculars. One brown, almost square object flew with a circular motion for 10-15 minutes.

ALTO4/5/66(Magonia)Two men stopped to watch an object hovering above a swamp and tried to follow it, but it flew away. They observed that animals (cows, dogs, horses) were restless in all the areas that the object crossed. A photographic reconstitution by the U.S. Air Force showed an oval object, 30 meters long, flying at 5 meters altitude, between a high-tension line and a row of trees. (Bluebook) 11:55 p.m. Witness: W. Smith. One oval object with a dark top, appeared cone-shaped when moving. It made a high-frequency noise during the 2.5 hour sighting.

CHATANOOGA6/7/98UFO Roundup vol 3 #24

CHATTANOOGANovember 11, 2002See Filer's Files

DANDRIDGE8/23/99UFO Roundup vol 3 #24

DANDRIDGE9/25/99UFO Roundup vol 3 #24

FAYETTEVILLE3/28/66(Magonia)A man driving at a speed of about 100 km/h suddenly encountered a large lighted object 1 meter above the road on a hilltop. It flew off, as the car engine and headlights died. The bulbs had to be replaced in the lights. The object was oval, 7 meters long, dark gray, and showed about 30 lights along it periphery.

GALLATIN9/7/99UFO Roundup vol 3 #24

GATLINBURG9/23/54(Bluebook)9:45 a.m. Witness: Dave Owenby. Two bright silver, wheel-shaped objects flew from north to south in trail for 2 minutes.

GERMANTOWNSeptember 8, 2002See Filer's Files

GERMANTOWNSeptember 28, 2002See Filer's Files

HALL'S CROSSROADS11/30/00UFO Roundup vol 3 #24

KNOXVILLE10/21/52(Bluebook)No time given. Witnesses: persons at airport weather station. Six white lights flew in a loose formation for 1-2 minutes, and made a shallow dive at a weather balloon.

LAKE CITY11/20/55(Bluebook)5:20 p.m. Witnesses: Operations Officer Capt. B.G. Denkler and five men of the USAF 663rd AC&W Sqdn. Two oblong, bright orange, semi-transparent objects flew at terrific speed and erratically, toward and away from each other. Observed by various persons form 4 to 15 minutes.

MEMPHISNovember 2, 2001See Filer's Files--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Back on the American homefront, on the banks of the Clinch River at Oak Ridge, TN, a huge, black, windowless building was being constructed. In the middle of Sept 1944, this structure, a gaseous diffusion plant, began operation. This unusual factory was designed to prepare quantities of fissionable material for the US' most important secret weapon, the A-bomb.

"Shortly after the plant began operations, the area had a vary odd visitor. A strange, metallic looking, tube-like object was spotted hovering over the road near the Oak Ridge plant. The object moved away as a crowd started to gather. The sighting was reported to the FBI (20)."

There is being submitted herewith a copy of two reports made by District Representative of the OSI, 8th District, U.S. Air Force, with regard to the detection of unidentified objects by the means of radar, as set forth inreferenced teletype. These reports continue to set forth additional reports concerning unidentified objects in the air space are over Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which to date have not been explained.

No investigation is being conducted by the Knoxville Office in this matter, but any further information received from OSI or from CIC representatives will be forwarded immediately.

Air MailCCM:jaw65-473Enc.(produced for the NICAP site by Francis Ridge)----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At 1655 hours, on 20 October 1950, Mr. Larry P. Riordan, AEC Badge No.522, Superintendent of Security at X-10 in the "Control Zone" at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, while enroute from X-10 to the Oak Ridge residential area, on Benton Valley Road, saw an object in the sky which appeared to be directly over the University of Tennessee Agricultural Research Farm. This object gave the general appearance of an aerial balloon which had lost its "basket." In other words, the object was generally round; appeared to come together at the bottom in wrinkles (rather indistinct), and something was hanging below. The balloon was described as being from eight to ten feet long; of a lead pipe or gunmetal color; and seemed to be approximately one-fourth (Â¼) mile from the observer, at a thirty (30) degree elevation above the horizon. The object was apparently stationary but since the observer was in a moving vehicle, he did not verify that it was stationary. As the vehicle in which he was travelling changed position, and went around a curve, Mr. Riordan noticed that this object appeared to be thinner. He concludes that by reason of his changing position, or the object changing its altitude, he observed another angle of the object which appeared to be thinner than upon his first sighting.

At the time of the observation there was adequate light and the object was plainly visible. Mr.Riordan is a responsible person, as is indicated by his position, and he has been aware of the many instances of reported objects flying in the sky. He is also very familiar with the weather balloons which are sent up hourly each day over Oak Ridge between 6:00 AM of one day until 1:00 AM of the next day. The size of these balloons vary, but generally they are similar to a circus balloon which is about twenty- four (24) inches in diameter. Mr. Riordan is certain that the object was not aweather balloon but his first impression was that this object was an experimental "gab" being utilized by the University of Tennessee Agricultural Research Farm.

Mr. Riordan has been the Security Chief of X-10 since 14 July 1943. His vision is normal except that he has negligible impairment of the right eye. Like many of the Atomic Energy Commission officials, Mr. Riordan has hoped for the opportunity to see one of these objects, and under the circumstances, he visualized it as accurately as possible.

At 1845 hours, on 24 October 1950, Mr. William B. Fry, Assistant Chief of Security, NEPA Division, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, while attending a Drive- in theater with his wife and child, at Oak Ridge, noticed an object in the sky North-Northwest of his position, at a thirty (30) to forty (40) degree elevation. This object was moving gently in a horizontal plane, back and forth, within thirty (30) degrees of his line of sight. This object emitted a glow, varying in color from red to green, to blue-green, to blue, and to orange. The variations were checked on the vertical window post of Mr. Fry's vehicle and were witnessed by Mr. Fry's wife. The attention of another observer, the Projectionist at the Drive-in theater, was also called to the object and verification of this sighting was made. The object disappeared from his sight at 1920 hours.

At 1855 hours, on 24 October, 1950, an Air Force Major, Lawrence Ballweg, NEPA Division, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, also saw from his residence an object which he described similarly. The object disappeared from the sight of Mr. Ballweg at 1920 hours, which coincides with the time of disappearance of the object from Mr. Fry's sight.

On 20 October 1950, at 1527 hours, aircraft No. AF-409, Pilot Wolf, 5th AW-Fighter Sqd., took off from the Knoxville Airport for a "local patrol." The Radar Unit at Knoxville Airport received readings on their Radar scope and sent the aircraft after these targets. The aircraft pilot was unable to identify any flying object in the vicinity of the said targets. All targets were between eighteen (18) and twenty-five (25) miles from the Airport at 320 degrees. The aircraft was landed at 1713 hours. (Attention is invited to the fact that these targets were sighted at approximately the same time, andlocality, that was reported by Mr. Larry Riordan.)

On 24 October 1950, at 1823 hours, several small, slow targets were seen on the Radar screen at the Knoxville Airport Radar Site. These targets appeared in the Southeast sector of the "Restricted Flying Zone" and over the city of Oak Ridge. These targets moved from the city area to and along the East boundary of the area. At 1826 hours, the fighter aircraft was "scrambled" and proceeded to the area where it was vectored among the targets but the pilot reported no visual contact with said targets. At 1920 hours the targets disappeared from the Radar Screen and the fighter was vectored toward another target believed to be one of three (3) aircraft enroute from Andrews Field to Steward Field. (Note: 1920 hours is also the time that the object sighted by Mr. Fry and Major Ballweg disappeared from their view).

It's been awhile, but I'm back with another casefile from Oak Ridge, Tennessee: my hometown. The "Atomic City" has a long and storied history where the UFO phenomenon is concerned, and this is just one account among many that are available for public consumption, thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, and books by guys such as J. Allen Hynek (CUFOS), and Edward J.Ruppelt (Project Blue Book).

Jerry WashingtonSD KY/MUFON

The following account is taken from an FBI document (circa 1950) sent by J. Edgar Hoover to Mr. Francis R. Hammock, Acting Director of the Division of Security of the Atomic Energy Commission in Washington, D.C.:

"On 13 October, 1950, Atomic Energy Security Patrol Trooper, Edward D.Rymer, and a caretaker, John Moneymaker, from the University of Tennessee Research Farm, at Oak Ridge, saw an object at about 12,000 to 15,000 feet above Solway Gate of the "Control Zone." This object appeared to be an aircraft which was starting to make an outside loop, trailing smoke behind. Soon these two men realized that the formerly described smoke behind the aircraft was a tail. This object continued to descend in a controlled dive, and when it approached the ground it leveled off and flew slowly, parallel to the ground. This object came within two hundred and ten (210)feet of the two observers and was paralleling the ground at approximately six (6) feet. Trooper Rymer attempted to approach the object but as he approached the object became smaller and started moving in a southeasterly direction. This object is said to have approached a nine (9) foot cyclone chain link fence and made a controlled movement to clear the fence, then a Willow tree, then a telephone post and wire, after which the objectgained momentum and altitude and cleared a hill at approximately one (1) mile away. The object appeared to be pear shaped. When this object was over the hill it was still visible as the same object that was observed when only fifty (50) feet away. (The explanation given was that this object grew larger as it gained altitude and speed.)

Approximately five minutes later the object appeared again having reappeared from approximately the same location from which it had disappeared. The object was seen again five minutes later for approximately ten seconds.

During the above happenings, Mr. John Moneymaker had visual reference of this object during its first [appearance] for approximately seven minutes. Trooper Rymer was interrupted twice during which tim es he called his headquarters in an attempt to get other observers. Also, during the fantastic flight of this object, Trooper Rymer stopped Mr. E.W. Hightower, who was on the highway in his vehicle, to verify what was being seen. Mr.Hightower's statement substantiates the description as before.

By the time the object appeared the second time, Joe Zarzecki, Captain of the Atomic Energy Commission Security Patrol, was present and also witnessed this phenomenon. Each of the observers describes the object substantially as follows:

a. When the object was first sighted it appeared to be an aircraft trailing smoke, or better described as"smoke writing."

b. When the object was approaching the ground in its descent, it took on the shape of a bullet with alarge tail.

c. When the object was sighted on the ground (from app. 210 ft.) It appeared to be approximately the sizeof a 2x5 card {from a distance], with a twenty (20) foot ribbon tail. The object and the tail were alternately moving up anddown, and the ribbon appeared to be waving in the breeze. The color was a metallic gray.

d. When Trooper Rymer came within fifty (50) feet of the object he described it similar to the above except that the first two and one-half (2 Â½) feet of the tail appeared more solid, but the last seventeen and one-half (17 Â½) feet of the tail appeared almost transparent and was glowing, intermittently, in sections. The tail appeared to have four or five sections which would glow intermittently.

Trooper Rymer's record is among the best of the troopers at the Atomic Energy Commission Securty Patrol. Mr. John Moneymaker holds badge No.UT-1817, and is employed by the University of Tennessee Agricultural Research Farm as a caretaker for small animals. Mr. E.W. Hightower holds badge No. 6633 and is an employee of the Maxon Construction Company.

The Controller, Capt. W. Akin, of Detachment No. 2â€¦at the Knoxville Airport Radar Site, made a report that he had seen peculiar readings on the radar scopes at approximately 1520 hours. Apparently the radar picture was indefinite, intermittent, and inaccurate, because the objects sighted by radar would only make a short "painting" on the scope and would then disappear only to reappear at another location."

Attached to this Summary are eleven (11) enclosures which tend to clarify information contained in the former two (2) Summaries of Information on SUBJECT. These enclosures are composed of witness statements; background information concerning previous sightings of peculiar objects over Oak Ridge; and radarreports. The most reliable sources available were utilized in the compilation of this report. The employment records and the Federal Bureau of Investigation reports concerning the witnesses were inspected to ascertain their reliability, integrity, and loyalty to the United States Government.

The opinions of the officials of the Security Division, AEC, Oak Ridge; Security Branch, ??PA [partially unreadable] Division, Oak Ridge: AEC Security Patrol, Oak Ridge; FBI, Knoxville: Air Force Radar and Fighter squadrons, Knoxville; and the OSI, Knoxville, Tennessee, FAIL TO EVOLVE AN ADEQUATE EXPLANATION FOR SUBJECT [emphasis mine] however, the possibilities of practical jokers, mass hysteria, balloons ofany description, flights of birds (with or without cobwebs or other objects attached), falling leaves, insect swarms, peculiar weather conditions, reflections, flying kites, objects thrown from the ground, windblown objects, insanity, and many other natural happenings HAVE BEEN REJECTED because of the simultaneous witnessing of the objects with the reported radar sightings; because of the reliability of the witnesses; because of the detailed, similar description of the objects seen by different persons; and BECAUSE OF IMPOSSIBILITYâ€¦"

(The previous document was declassified in 1983.)Created: Oct 5, 1997(produced for the NICAP site by Francis Ridge)---------------------------------------------------------------UFO INCIDENT AT OAK RIDGE, TN11/10/1950Jan Aldrich: Here is an incident report from Barry Greenwood's Oak Ridge file. I suspect it came from the FBI. Please note the radiation detection.

==========================================================10 November 1950

On 10 November 1950,-------------, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, employee at-------------, Oak Ridge, Tennessee was interviewed and he stated subtantially as follows: At approximately 1630 hours on 23 October 1950, while driving on the Benton Valley Road, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, he observed an object over the Scarboro School (which is in the control area of Oak Ridge) at a distance of one-quarter to three-eighth of a mile from his position of observations. The object appeared to be between 1000 and 2000 feet in altitude and was described as an "aluminum flash".

It was traveling in a South Southeast direction. The object was dropping fast as it crossed the road and disappeared over a ridge--------heard no noise in connection with this object.

At approximately the time of this observation, a background (Geiger) counter located in the vicinity of this observation registered a reading for Alpha and Beta particles. -----------with the Health and Research Division of Oak Ridge Naitonal Laboratories, has stated that a reading received on this background counter is unexplained.

NPTES: No intentional or accidental releases which would give such a reading were made during month October.

The Radar Station, Knoxville, Tennessee, has not reported a radar sighting on the date and time of this observation. Created: Sep 23, 1997 (produced for the NICAP site by Francis Ridge)-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Situations involving the mystery helicopters appear to be a little more insidious. A good example is an event which occurred in Madison County, Montana, between June and October of 1976. Twenty-two confirmed cattle mutilations had occurred during that period, and they were accompanied by reports throughout the county of silent, unmarked, jet-black helicopters, flashing or steady anomalous lights in the air and near the ground, unmarked fixed- wing aircraft and white vans in remote and previously inaccessible areas.

Toward the latter part of this period, in early autumn of 1976, a hunter from Bozeman, Montana, was out alone around 3:00pm one day in the Red Mountain area near Norris. He watched as a black helicopter without markings flew overhead and disappeared below a small hill. The curious hunter climbed to the top of the hill. There was the black chopper (a Bell Jet Ranger, he thought) on the ground, the engine still running. Seven men had apparently exited from the craft and were walking up the hill toward the observer. As the hunter advanced toward the seven, he waved and shouted congenial greetings. It was then that he realized there was something about the men -- they were all Oriental. They had slanted eyes and olive skin and were jabbering among themselves in some indecipherable language. They wore "everyday" clothes, not uniforms. Suddenly they began to return to the helicopter. The hunter, still waving and shouting friendly greetings, started after them. The Orientals quickened their pace. When the hunter approached within five or six feet, they broke into a dead run, crowded into the chopper and took off.

In a documented "mystery helicopter" wave in England, accounts place Oriental-appearing occupants in an unidentified chopper. Slant-eyed, olive skinned, Oriental-seeming occupants have been a staple at the heart and at the periphery of UFO accounts for years. Significant numbers of the infamous "men-in- black" (MIB) have a similar appearance, but very often they are seen as very pale and gaunt men who are sensitive to light.

In STIGMATA No. 5 (Fall-Winter 1978) Tom Adams outlined the most prominent speculative explanations accounting for the mutilation/helicopter link, including the following:The helicopters are themselves UFOs, disguised to appear as terrestrial craft.The choppers originate from within the U.S. government/military and are directly involved in conducting the actual mutilations.The helicopters are government/military and are not involved in the mutilations but are investigating them.The helicopters are government/military, and they know about the identity and motives of the mutilators and by their presence, they are trying to divert attention to the possibility of involvement by the military.The answer, as far as Tom Adams is concerned, could be a combination of the above explanations. There also has been speculation that they are involved in biological experiments with chemical or biological warfare or the geobotanical pursuit of petroleum and mineral deposits. On one occasion, an army standard-type scalpel was found at a mutilation site. Since the disks have been mostly involved with the mutilations, it is thought that this was a diversionary event.These events, or the discussion of them, is just the precursor to the actual revelations of what is behind the mutilations: alien acquisition of biological materials for their own use. To discuss this in a logical and sequential manner, we must review what has been really happening right under our noses: direct interaction with extraterrestrial biological entities (EBE's). To discuss that, however, we must attempt to start at the beginning with what we now know to be true.

It seemingly all began thousands of years ago, but for the purposes of this discussion, let's start with some events that we all are familiar with. In 1947, two years after we set off the first nuclear explosion that our current civilization detonated, came the Mantell episode, where we had the first recorded incident of a military confrontation with extraterrestrials that resulted in the death of a military pilot. It is quite evident now that our government did not known quite how to handle the situation. In 1952, the nation's capital was overflown by a series of disks. During this period, the government established a working group, known as Majestic Twelve (MJ-12). The original members were: Admiral Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter, Dr. Vannevar Bush, Secretary James Forrestal, General Nathan P. Twining, General Hoyt S. Vandenburg, Dr. Detlev Bronk, Dr. Jerome Hunsaker, Mr. Sidney W. Souers, Mr. Gordon Gray, Dr. Donald Menzel, General Robert M. Montague, and Dr. Lloyd V. Berkner.

The MJ-12 group has been a continuously existing group since it was created, with new members replacing others that die. For example, when Secretary Forrestal was upset at seeing the United States sold out in World War II, he wound up being sent to a Naval hospital for emotional strain. Before relatives could get to him, he "jumped out a 16th story window." Most persons close to him consider his suicide contrived. When Forrestal died, he was replaced by General Walter B. Smith.In 1949, MJ-12 evolved an initial plan of contingency called MJ-1949-04P/78 that was to make allowance for public disclosure of some data should the necessity present itself.

With the "Flying Saucer Program" under complete control of MJ-12 and with the physical evidence hidden away, General Marshall felt more at ease with this very bizarre situation. These men and their successors have most successfully kept most of the public fooled for years, including much of the western world, by setting up false experts and throwing their influence behind them to make their plan work, with considerable success.

Black helicopters do exist, they have no identification marks, and they are not that secret. A source who wished to remain anonymous sent these pictures. The craft shown here is the successor of the Argus, the Northrop Grumman Ryan model 379 VTUAV, a small size helicopter ... without a pilot!

The craft is in use by the US Navy for example, they do publish the same photographs on their web site, accompanied with all the tehcnical data.

This kind of unmanned crafts are intensively developped and tested by the US military in the recent years, and will probably be deployed for operational use between 2000 and 2025, depending on budget considerations.

As these crafts generally have no identification marks, they might -or might not- be the famous "black helicopters".

Due to their small size, they might appear to the naive observer as "UFO manoeuvering at high speed in the distance". But on the other end, they are not at all silent, and you can be confident that tests of such crafts are not conducted over populated areas but rather over desertic dedicated test ranges.

These crafts are also quite recent: there was no informatics capacities in the last decades to get an aircaft of any kind to fly in a stable manner under no human control.

In few word, when a flying device is observed near a military test range these days, it is more and more difficult to discriminate between human or possibly non-human crafts. But such craft cannot be used to dismiss cases of the past decades, particularly if the UFO case is reported as "unexplained" by the military themselves.

A GOOD FRIEND OF MINE IS BEING HARASSED BY BLACK UNMARKED HELOCOPTERS!! THIS IS NOT JUST A ONE TIME HAPPENING BUT HAS BEING GOING ON FOR MONTHS. THERE HAVE BEEN BLACKHAWKS, HUEYS, COBRAS, AND APPACHIES. NOT ALL HAVE BEEN BLACK, BUT THEY HAVE BEEN ALL HARASSING HIM AT NEAR TREETOP LEVEL. AS YOU CAN SEE, THERE ARE NO MARKINGS ON THIS PARTICULAR ONE. THEY COME TWO DAYS THEN OFF A DAY THEN BACK THE 4TH DAY. THIS PARTICULAR ONE BLEW OFF A COVER TO HIS CHICKEN PEN AND HE LOST 54 CHICKENS. HIS HOGS BROKE OUT OF THEIR PEN AND HIS ROCKWIELER DOG WAS RUNNING FOR COVER UNDER THE HOUSE. THERE HAVE ALSO BEEN FIXED WING PLANES CIRCLING HIS 10 ACRES FOR HOURS. I HAVE SPOKEN TO HIS NEIGBORS AND THEY HAVE VERIFIED THESE ACCOUNTS. WHY IS THE GOVERNMENT DOING THIS? SEE FOR YOURSELF...... THIS IS REAL DOCUMENTATION OF JUST ONE OF MANY MANY MANY HARASSMENTS, BUT THE ONLY ONE WHICH HE PHOTOGRAPHED. IF THEY WILL DO THIS TO THIS AMERICAN VETERAN AND PATRIOT, JUST THINK WHAT THEY MAY BE PLANNING FOR THE REST OF US. "WHAT YOU DO UNTO THE LEAST OF THESE, YOU DO UNTO ME!" ARE YOU NEXT? AM I?

Editors Note: IF anyone has any information on this contact BUFO Paranormal and UFO Radio IMMEDIATELY!

I was reading the postings on you website at http://www.burlingtonnews.net/ufotennesseeoakridge.html and wanted to share my own story which also seems to have a connection to Oak Ridge area sightings.

One Summer evening in 1978 (exact date lost to memory), when I was 9 years old, my father, mother and sister and I were driving home from a trip to the store via Middlebrook Pike. It was twilight as we headed west toward the intersection of Weisgarber Road and Middlebrook Pike.

As we approached the intersection, a large, brilliantly lit craft caught our eyes. It was a slow moving oval shaped craft which appears to be about four to five stories in high and was only a couple of hundred feet in altitude. As it approached from the Northwestern sky, we could see that is had an incredibly bright light shinning upward from the top of the craft like a spot light. There also seemed to be steam coming from the top. The light was so bright in fact that it left a bright spot on the ceiling of clouds above.

As it came closer, we could also see that the craft was covered with literally thousands of small lights of every color which seemed to cycle through the color spectrum. It had many long rods protruding from its side which were also covered in these multicolored, dynamic lights. Some of the rods seemed to be moving while others seemed stationary.

I asked my father to stop the car so we could get out and watch the craft, but he said no in a nervous voice I was not used to hearing from him. We kept driving. Traffic was heavy, and even slowed a bit because so many commuters were distracted by the object. As we continued our drive home, I did see a few cars pull off the road and into the grass. I even saw one man trying to take a picture of the craft with a camera as he leaned on the roof of his car.

When we arrived home, my friends ran into my yard and said, â€œyouâ€™ll never guess what we saw.â€� I told them we had seen it too and they describe the craft exactly. They said it came very low over the neighborhood (Canby Hills Road) crossing Mountain Creek Lane (a Cul-De-Sac) and headed slowly Southeeast. They said it made absolutely no sound as it drifted across the night sky.

For days, my friends and I watched the news hoping to see a report about the incident. However, no report even came.

Recently, it occurred to me that I could use the two known points of sighting (1- Middlebrook Pike/Weisgarber Rd and 2- Montain Creek Lane Cul-De-Sac) to plot the possible flight path of the object. After doing this I discovered an interesting possibility. If the object flew in a straight line from the Northwest as it appear to be doing, then it would have passed directly over the restricted airspace of Oak Ridge National Laboratories. Surely, such a sighting would not have gone unnoticed over such a facility.

I know many people who still remember the event and can describe it in equal detail. I would be interested in hearing from others, via this site, who may have witnessed what we saw that evening. I find it very strange that an event witnessed by so many people never made it to the news in any form. Greg Allen

Mary Sutherland is the author of the following books

Living in the Light: Believe in the Magic

Mysteries: Exploring the Mysteries of Burlington and Southeastern Wisconsin

Mary Sutherland is an author and researcher focusing her work on consciousness studies, ancient history and unusual phenomena. She is a "hands on" researcher and the creator of one of the largest website on the internet with hundreds of pages providing information on the paranormal, UFOs, ancient races and their cultures, sacred sites and power points of the world, underground tunnels and cave systems, dimensional worlds , metaphysics, etc. The governor of Kentucky commissioned her as a ‘Kentucky Colonel” for her work on the ancient sites of Kentucky. For the last 5 years, she has been exploring, mapping and documenting the ancient underwater structures of Rock Lake – near Aztalan. For the last fourteen years she has been documenting the ancient sites around Burlington, WI. Truth is her passion. She believes it is through truth that we will break ourselves free of our present entanglements in life. When we become free, we will create our own ‘personal story’ of the ‘hero’s journey’ suggested by Joseph Campbell.

“There are rare persons in this world who see things others don’t; persons who connect the dots of existence and possess an instinctive talent for linking with kindred souls to reveal otherwise invisible patterns and excavate hidden truths. Such a person is Mary Sutherland. She is a natural-born networker in all she does --- from her Burlington Vortex Conferences and Sci’Fi Café to her public talks and published books. Nowhere, however, is her gift for perception more developed than in her latest title.“ Frank Joseph .Joseph was nominated by Japan's Savant Society as Professor of World Archaeology. He was editor-in-chief of Ancient American Magazine from 1993 to 2007 and has traveled the world collecting research materials for his twenty-seven published books.

"Mary Sutherland is not simply a reporter of all these phenomena; she lives them! As readers expect, her studies extend beyond her own experiences. The author and investigator often takes visitors on tours containing an inter-dimensional vortex and hosts yearly conferences and meet ups with many well known speakers on anomalous phenomena."What differentiates her book. Haunted Burlington Wisconsin , is that Sutherland includes her explanations of the unknown realms and phenomena with tips for heightening the reader's own psychic awareness. Readers who complete this dizzying journey may find they can no longer look at Burlington in exactly the same way. Perhaps, then, this book itself may be considered a vortex. and whether or not it actually transports you to another place, it will certainly draw you in."Linda Godfrey , award winning author on strange creatures, people and places. She has been featured guest on dozens of nation TV and radio shows, including Monsterquest, Sean Hannity's America, Lost Tapes, Inside Edition, Sy-fy's Haunted Highway, Monsters and Mysteries, Coast to Coast...and the list goes on!